The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has conducted a major action to shut down MegaUpload, a popular file-sharing site widely used for free downloads of movies and television shows.

After receiving indictments from a grand jury in Virginia for racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and other charges on Jan. 5, federal authorities on Thursday arrested four people and executed more than 20 search warrants in the U.S. and eight foreign countries, seizing 18 domain names and an estimated $50 million in assets, including servers run in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

MegaUpload is a "digital locker" that allows users to store files that can then be streamed or downloaded by others. Its subsidiary site MegaVideo became very popular for the unauthorized downloads of movies and TV shows. Users whose uploaded content proved particularly popular were paid for their participation.

In a joint statement, the Justice Department and FBI called the action "among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States. (...)

megaupload was a good site, one of the originals
there will be more where they came from

you can't shut the door when the horse has bolted.
sony/warner/etc need to restructure themselves, lay off all the useless bean counters and get some people in who will make them some proper money

SOPA is the best thing that has happened in years, because now everyone is telling the US government to piss off, and the US government will, because they don't want to create a situation like syria do they. some people get really angry about stuff like this, when companies (the us government) try to take away their freedom. then there will be riots, and bloodshed. and there should be. the internet is the greatest invention of all time (disregarding the original electricity, circuit boards etc)

SOPA is the best thing that has happened in years, because now everyone is telling the US government to piss off, and the US government will, because they don't want to create a situation like syria do they. some people get really angry about stuff like this, when companies (the us government) try to take away their freedom. then there will be riots, and bloodshed. and there should be. the internet is the greatest invention of all time (disregarding the original electricity, circuit boards etc)

Yeah, one good thing that's come out of the whole SOPA thing is that people are now a lot more aware of just how much lobbying and shady dealings go on in Washington, and how easy it is to convince politicians to support something they don't understand. Hopefully this will make it harder the next time they try to push through one of these insane things (because they will try again. And again. And again).

Of course, that all requires that it fails this time around, which is still not a sure thing.

Boy you guys are naive. If SOPA does not get though is because it is opposed by big business. This is one of those cases where one set of big industry concerns (those based in silicon valley that represent the interests of e.g Google, Microsoft and Apple etc...) comes up against another (the interests of the film industry; recorded music industry; news media and publishing industries etc). Personally I think there is good reason to fear the market dominance of Microsoft, Google and Apple far more than that of the publishing and film industries.

But hey, for most of you Steve Jobs was a god and Google a champion of free speech. Right?

Boy you guys are naive. If SOPA does not get though is because it is opposed by big business. This is one of those cases where one set of big industry concerns (those based in silicon valley that represent the interests of e.g Google, Microsoft and Apple etc...) comes up against another (the interests of the film industry; recorded music industry; news media and publishing industries etc).

So the massive public outcry has had no effect, you think? What are your sources for this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Too Many Songs

But hey, for most of you Steve Jobs was a god and Google a champion of free speech. Right?

No and most definitely no. Steve Jobs was a great businessman and little else, and Google is about one step away from becoming Skynet.

It always comes down to money, most of the time they get one group to hate another though. Hard for them to do in this case. No one can accuse the other of not caring for his fellow american, or that they are racist, or hate mongering gay basher.. Ya know the stuff that they can usually con one side to readily accuse the other of like little puppets.

--Obama could pay for SOPA in lost Hollywood cash, by Robin Bravender and Kenneth P. Vogel: [T]he tech industry has become a rising force in Washington and in fundraising. Campaign donations to Obama from the tech industry this cycle have soared, with employees and political action committees in the industry giving more than $1.3 million to Obama in the second and third quarters of 2011  a boost of nearly 80 percent from that time four years ago Contributions to Obama from the television, movie and music industries, meanwhile, dropped 31 percent during that time to just over $1 million. http://bit.ly/AkSTnK

Right, so because Google organised one of the many petitions agains SOPA, they've obviously been orchestrating the whole thing.

It even says right in the article:
"Of course, Google’s anti-SOPA and PIPA petition is not the only one out there on this day of mass online protest. As of this writing 1.458 million people signed a similar petition at the activist website Avaaz.org, and Fight for the Future said that between its two sites, Sopastrike.com and AmericanCensorship.org, at least 350,000 people have sent emails to representatives in the House and Senate."

...and that's just the tip of the iceberg of what was done to protest this.

And in any case, regardless of who made this happen, it doesn't change the fact that SOPA is wrong on every level, and I find it incredibly scary that a nation that prides itself on its freedom and democracy comes this close to denying its people a huge chunk of both these important aspects of modern civilisation.

SOPA is some evil twisted shit, but this didn't anything to do with it..

Anyway, I just can't believe how corporations fund US politicians' campaigns and then get bills and laws for their profit in return, while every ordinary tax-paying, law-abiding citizen doesn't want them. That is just plain corrupt and terrible.

A few minutes ago I was reading about how some U.S. District Court recently ruled that Iran was behind 9/11 Attacks.. Great. You know what this means right? Another fucking war.
And I can't get it... Every single American that comments on these news is sick and tired of war, and doesn't support it.. so, what the hell???

Does anybody still believe that America fights "for freedom"??

It seems that some multi-billion dollar corporations don't find much profit in peace.. So it don't matter that almost no-one supports war, the US Gov is still sending thousands of your fellow Americans to get killed, bombed and amputated, for what??

Holy shit man, your politicians are ruining you.. You really gotta do something about it 'cause this is getting outta hand real quickly.

Sorry for the rant and I hope it doesn't come across the wrong way. I have the highest respect for the American People, and that's why it pains me to see you in this position.

Boy you guys are naive. If SOPA does not get though is because it is opposed by big business. This is one of those cases where one set of big industry concerns (those based in silicon valley that represent the interests of e.g Google, Microsoft and Apple etc...) comes up against another (the interests of the film industry; recorded music industry; news media and publishing industries etc). Personally I think there is good reason to fear the market dominance of Microsoft, Google and Apple far more than that of the publishing and film industries.

But hey, for most of you Steve Jobs was a god and Google a champion of free speech. Right?

No. I just place more trust in the creators of google & wikipedia more than hollywood scrooges. I'll record one of the keynote speeches from SXSW for you r.e. SOPA so you can have a listen.
Must say though, you are mega paranoid, I'm wondering why you're even on a public forum lol. We're all under surveilance in one way or another, get over it and enjoy wikipedia. See i'm not paranoid in the least about SOPA, I just want to be able to use youtube.

a tip to copyright owners: if you don't want your music to be downloaded for free, then issue takedown notices, it's not difficult.
if you can't stop it getting on the internet anyway, then you're fighting a losing battle :D

SOPA is some evil twisted shit, but this didn't anything to do with it..

Anyway, I just can't believe how corporations fund US politicians' campaigns and then get bills and laws for their profit in return, while every ordinary tax-paying, law-abiding citizen doesn't want them. That is just plain corrupt and terrible.

A few minutes ago I was reading about how some U.S. District Court recently ruled that Iran was behind 9/11 Attacks.. Great. You know what this means right? Another fucking war.
And I can't get it... Every single American that comments on these news is sick and tired of war, and doesn't support it.. so, what the hell???

Does anybody still believe that America fights "for freedom"??

It seems that some multi-billion dollar corporations don't find much profit in peace.. So it don't matter that almost no-one supports war, the US Gov is still sending thousands of your fellow Americans to get killed, bombed and amputated, for what??

Holy shit man, your politicians are ruining you.. You really gotta do something about it 'cause this is getting outta hand real quickly.

Sorry for the rant and I hope it doesn't come across the wrong way. I have the highest respect for the American People, and that's why it pains me to see you in this position.

Cheers.

Politicians know what they are doing and they are good at it. They have us picking sides, democrat or republican and how one is for the rich and the other is for the poor when in reality they are all rich and send the poor to die and most of us fall for it hook line and sinker. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!"

Because of your strong concerns with online piracy bills currently under consideration in Congress like H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), I thought you might be interested to learn of recent events in this regard.

On January 17th, after thoroughly reviewing the draft version of SOPA, you will be pleased to know that I formally expressed my opposition to this legislation with my colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee, which has since suspended deliberations on this controversial measure. As you are fully aware, H.R. 3261, a bill that I never sponsored in the first place, was introduced earlier this Congress in an attempt to prevent online threats to economic creativity and theft of intellectual property.

While it is important that we protect copyrighted material, like you, I feel we can address this issue without restricting the Internet. Our democracy is founded on certain unalienable rights including the freedom of speech and expression. Unfortunately, the current version of SOPA would violate this basic right and is nothing more than modern day censorship. The Internet belongs to the people and instead we must support policies in Congress that promote a free and boundless world wide web.

As always, I greatly appreciate knowing of your support for my efforts on this important matter of mutual concern. With best wishes and personal regards, I am

__________________
Less than 300 days until retirement.
Gretsch Renown

Two things to note; SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, etc. are all wars of attrition in the digital realm. I guarantee you they're going to run different variants of this up the flag pole for a number of years to come. Secondly, the shutting down of Megaupload is a prime example of how they don't actually need any of this legislation. The U.S. federal government was able to shut down an international site with the help of several other nations.

Yes, but .... the very nature of the Internet is that it can't easily be closed down. As fast as you shut one area another pops up. That was the idea behind it in the first place.

Authorities the world over are worried sick about this because it undermines them. People are reacting in all sorts of ways that could never have been imagined. The music business is just one that is changing as a result of the Internet. The political scene is also changing as a result of the actions of Mr Assange. I don't suppose he is the only one either.

Without large scale oppression of the Internet I don't see how any of these things can be stopped.

The one thing that gives me pause for thought, in all of this, is that the internet began as a DARPA project, didn't it? Or a combination of government-run or top-level academic networks in a few countries? So...how did this situation arise in the first place, that there were no controls? Was that really a mistake? Are there really no controls, or is that something we're being encouraged to think, now? One thing I'm rapidly learning is that big media events are almost invariably managed in some way, and all this apparent furore over SOPA makes me suspicious. There's a reason why this is in the news and other things aren't, but I'm not sure what it is.

The one thing that gives me pause for thought, in all of this, is that the internet began as a DARPA project, didn't it? Or a combination of government-run or top-level academic networks in a few countries? So...how did this situation arise in the first place, that there were no controls? Was that really a mistake? Are there really no controls, or is that something we're being encouraged to think, now? One thing I'm rapidly learning is that big media events are almost invariably managed in some way, and all this apparent furore over SOPA makes me suspicious. There's a reason why this is in the news and other things aren't, but I'm not sure what it is.

It's the power (economic, social and political) of Google my friend. And what is scary is that a single corporation has such clout in all three spheres!

Is that really all, TMS? Does that not strike you as an oversimplification, given Google's well-documented predilection for working closely with governments, even when they are engaged in questionable behaviour? China's censorship of the internet being perhaps the best, but by no means the only example. A company does not rise to the stature of Google without the co-operation of nation states. I don't believe for a moment that Google has greater power than the states, and other powerful interests, that have permitted it to exist in the first place.

I don't think I set out to answer anything other than why this is in the news.

Old media interests (e.g Murdock empire) vs new media interests (e.g Google). That pretty much guarantees it will be on TV, in the newspapers and on the web whereever you look.

As to Google's power to now avoid regulation - well yes they have engaged in some shabby practices in the PRC - but it is a measure of Google's influence that the Government of the PRC engage with them at all! Wow!

Secondly, the shutting down of Megaupload is a prime example of how they don't actually need any of this legislation. The U.S. federal government was able to shut down an international site with the help of several other nations.

That is a very good point, easily overlooked but important to keep in mind.

Yes, but .... the very nature of the Internet is that it can't easily be closed down. As fast as you shut one area another pops up. That was the idea behind it in the first place.

Authorities the world over are worried sick about this because it undermines them. People are reacting in all sorts of ways that could never have been imagined.

Yes, the people in charge (both corporations and their lapdog governments) aren't keen on freedom.

As history tells us, the amount of freedom given to people expands and contracts over time - revolution, hubris, then counter-revolution ... over and over ... big cycles and small cycles within those ... at the moment in the west we're in a cycle where freedom is being reduced.

So the government is called in to preserve the assets of the very wealthy. On the surface it's just normal international policing ... but I don't see the same vigour and determination in policing to preserve the assets of little people being gouged by the outrageous tax evasion of the very rich. We have lawful and unlawful theft. If you're big enough, it's not a crime, just "good business".

When the big end of town pays its fair share of tax then I'll agree to my taxes being spent on hunting down file sharing sites. Otherwise, this should be a job for the companies - to find attractive business models that will attract customers ... which includes producing quality music rather than training people's ears to respond to slapdash overproduced non-events performed by prancing bimbettes and their mechanical accompaniment ...